Arizona Republic: Bigger Arizona college class sizes a growing trend.

Here is a description of the modern university, one with bigger and bigger class sizes.  Another example of corporatization of the university.  With budget cuts on the horizon and the need to educate more students, instead of building more classrooms and hiring more faculty they are making the class sizes larger.  Oh yeah, they are [...]

Thoughts on UNM Athletics

Academe, n.:  An ancient school where morality and philosophy were taught. Academy, n.:  A modern school where football is taught.  ~Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary College football is a sport that bears the same relation to education that bullfighting does to agriculture.  ~Elbert Hubbard Back at UNM the Lobos were the biggest thing on campus.  [...]

Stanley Ikenberry on the Commodification of Education

Stanley Ikenberry on the Commodification of Education   In 2001 the Chronicle of Higher education reported on the final words of the departing president of the American Council on Education, Stanley O. Ikenberry.  Ikenberry served as A.C.E. president over four years and scheduled a return in June of that year to the University of Illinois [...]

Some Perils of Public-Private Collaboration in Albuquerque: Phillips and Eclipse

In this article we will look at some of the perils that happened with public funds going for private gain.  These case studies will revolve around Albuquerque with two companies operating there in the early aughties: Phillips Semiconductors and Eclipse Aviation Phillips and IRB’s In November 2002 Philips Semiconductor, whose parent company is Royal Philips [...]

Air Force Drops Airborne Laser

Latest news about an old high tech military project I covered here before (http://elloborojo.wordpress.com/2010/06/27/gunship-lasers-developed-in-new-mexico/). Now the Airborne Laser is being discontinued. However I doubt the money saved will be going into anything like feeding the poor.  Not to mention the money spent already that was just wasted on research and development. From (http://www.krqe.com/dpp/military/new_mexico/air-force-drops-airborne-laser-project):     [...]

Notes on University of New Mexico and Fundraising

Notes on University of New Mexico and Fundraising Here’s some examples of the growing trend of universities using private donations to fund their programs. UNM held a fashion show back in November 20th 1999 to raise funds for one of its libraries. The “Fashion for the 21st Century” event featured apparel from Elsa Ross modeled [...]

R.I.P. Namebase and other Watchdog Sites

A couple days ago I tried to go to the link cia-on-campus.org and found it no longer was there.  Further inquiry found this:   http://www.betabeat.com/2012/02/21/scroogle-privacy-first-search-engine-shuts-down-for-good/ Scroogle, the search engine operated by privacy militant and self-appointed Wikipedia watchdog Daniel Brandt, has folded for real. After enduring DDOS attacks “around the clock” that sent a flood of [...]

UNM and Air Force Research Laboratory create partnership

Did some web surfing and found this piece from last year about the collaboration of University of New Mexico and the Air Force’s Directed Energy research and development.  Further info on the militarization of universities.  http://news.unm.edu/2011/04/afrl-%E2%80%93-unm-sign-educational-partnership-agreement/ AFRL – UNM Sign Educational Partnership Agreement April 22, 2011 | By Karen Wentworth U.S.A.F. Col. William T. Coo­ley, [...]

I Was Right…Robert Frank Is The New UNM President

In a previous post (http://elloborojo.wordpress.com/2011/12/26/a-cursory-glance-at-the-unm-presidential-finalists-2011/) I bet that Robert Frank would be the new president of the University of New Mexico.  The combination of him not being a token minority, being from New Mexico, and being antagonistic to faculty, would be a winning combination for the Regents to be their CEO.  And lo and behold, [...]

More on Education and Corporatization in New Mexico

Universities: Access or Research? Bringing up the topic of presidential searches because it is going on at my alma mater the University of New Mexico, UNM. My thesis is that presidential searches are a symptom of the corporate university. It is worth pointing out the corporate capitalist influence of higher education, with New Mexico schools [...]